Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres team race

Men's 5000 metres team race
at the Games of the II Olympiad
File:Bennett 1900.jpg
Charles Bennett, who finished first to lead the AAA team to victory
VenueBois de Boulogne
DateJuly 22
Competitors10 from 3 nations
Winning score26
Medalists
Gold medal 
Silver medal 

The men's 5000 metres team race was the last track and field event on the in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was the team race in the Olympics. It was on July 22, 1900.

There was 2 teams. In each team, there was 5 athletes. The Racing Club de France from France had a team. There was also a team from the Amateur Athletic Association of England. This team had 4 British athletes and Stan Rowley of Australia.

The AAA team won. Their team had 26 points.

Background

This was the first Olympic team race. This was the only time this event was 5000 metres long. In 1904, the distance was 4 miles. In 1908, the event was 3 miles. In 1912, 1920, and 1924, the distance would be 3000 metres.

After 1924, the Olympics did not have the team race.

Competition

The event had one heat. Each of the runners ran 10 laps around the track. The track was 500 metres long. The place that a runner ran was the number of points they got. For example, if a runner was in 2nd place, they were given 2 points. The team with the lowest number of points won.

Records

This was the first big 5000 metre race with team scoring. It was also one of the first big 5000 metres races.

The fastest time for this race was 15:54. This was for 3​14 miles (5230m). That race was actually a 4-mile race by Walter George in 1884. However, the wrote down the time at that distance. The actual 5000m time was not written down. However, this time is about the same as 15:12 for 5000 metres.[1]

World record  Walter George (GBR) 15:54 (3​14 miles) London 17 May 1884 [2]
Olympic record N/A

Charles Bennett beat the Olympic record and the World record. His time was 15:29.2.

Schedule

Date Time Round
Sunday, 22 July 1900 Final

Summary

Rimmer and Bennett were in front for most of the race. The French runners Deloge, Ragueneau, and Chastanié were not very far behind. Tysoe and Robinson stayed with Castanet and Champoudry. Rowley was injured. He started to walk after the first lap.

On the last lap, Bennett started to beat Rimmer.

Champoudry finished the race in 9th place. Rowley had just ran his 7th lap. He was in pain. The rules said that all 5 team members had to finish the race for the team to score. However, the officials let Rowley to stop the race.

Results

Rank Athlete Team Nation Time Points
1 Charles Bennett Amateur Athletic Association of England  Mixed team 15:29.2 1
2 John Rimmer Amateur Athletic Association of England  Mixed team Unknown 2
3 Henri Deloge Racing Club de France  France Unknown 3
4 Gaston Ragueneau Racing Club de France  France Unknown 4
5 Jacques Chastanié Racing Club de France  France Unknown 5
6 Sidney Robinson Amateur Athletic Association of England  Mixed team Unknown 6
7 Alfred Tysoe Amateur Athletic Association of England  Mixed team Unknown 7
8 André Castanet Racing Club de France  France Unknown 8
9 Michel Champoudry Racing Club de France  France Unknown 9
Stan Rowley Amateur Athletic Association of England  Mixed team DNF 10

Team standings

Rank Team Nation Points
1 Amateur Athletic Association of England  Mixed team 26
2 Racing Club de France  France 29

References

  1. "2015 Progression of IAAF World Records" (PDF). p. 85. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. "2015 Progression of IAAF World Records" (PDF). p. 85. Retrieved 18 July 2023.